Skip to main content

The Hug

If you were at the 12:00 Easter service at Westside Christian Church you would have witnessed our worship pastor baptizing his son at the end of service. He climbed in the baptistry with all of his clothes on after the final worship song of the service. His son didn't know he was going to do the baptism, he thought the kids ministry leader was doing it. 

After he completed baptizing him, he gave his son the biggest hug while the church applauded. It was one of those where a kid jumps in the arms of the parent. It ends up being a full body hug.  

I thought it was a perfect ending to Easter. The pure love of a father for his son, raw and real, right before our eyes. The same love and joy God shared after Jesus was baptized. Matthew 2:17 says, "And a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.'" 

God's love for us is the same. Because of Jesus' death on the cross and His defeat of death with the empty tomb, we are restored. We are one family, one body because of Jesus. And our heavenly father loves us deeply. 

I can't think of a better way to wrap up our celebration of the resurrection of our Savior. God's love is so grand that He defeats death through the death and resurrection of His son. 

Be blessed and be a blessing,
Matt

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Right In Front of Me

There is one character in the story of the night of Jesus' arrest that sticks out. He seems insignificant to what is happening. He’s almost an interruption in the story. He is only mentioned by name in one of the four gospels, even though the description of what occurred is in all four gospels.  Malchus is his name. He works for the people who want Jesus dead. His job, with his compadres, is to seize Jesus and bring him back to the high priest. There he would be subject to questioning, a trial of sorts.  As Malchus and his posse are approaching, Peter takes action to protect Jesus. “With that, one of Jesus' companions reached for his sword, drew it out and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear” (Matthew 26:51). Jesus immediately tells Peter and the rest of his disciples to stop with the violence.  I wonder what Malchus thought at this point. I imagine his was in shock, I would guess he was surprised. He had just been attacked and surely is bleeding ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Glow Differently

I saw this quote recently, “You glow differently when your confidence is fueled by belief in yourself instead of validation from others.” I found myself wrestling with it. I completely agree with the concept that the validation of my worth is not established by the thoughts of others. While I think a positive self image is important, I do not think that it is what really makes me “glow differently.” I hope I glow differently because of whom I believe in, rather than what I believe of myself.  The author of Titus says, “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:4-7) . Love and kindness entered the world in the form of a m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Grits

This past Saturday I got the chance to catch up with my friend at breakfast. We connected months ago over grits, of all things. I learned he really didn't care for grits. Turns out his parents used to make him eat them quite often and in many forms. As he has grown older he's made the conscious decision, he's had enough grits for a lifetime. On the other hand, I really enjoy grits. They are a wonderful breakfast food with butter, salt, and pepper. For dinner, you can't beat some good shrimp and grits. I have a recipe for jambalaya grits that will put a smile on anyone's face. It is like jambalaya meets cheese grits. Yum! My friend and I joke about grits everytime we see each other. I offer him some and he politely refuses. Of course, I respect his wishes and don't give him any grits. How do you offer someone grits? Do you insist they eat and like them because you eat them? Do you put them on their plate anyway? Do you treat them differently bec...
Post a Comment
Read more